Menorrhagia is a condition in which a woman has extremely heavy menstrual periods or bleeding between periods. Also called dysfunctional uterine bleeding, menorrhagia is characterized by heavy and prolonged menstrual bleeding. Generally, bleeding is considered excessive when a woman soaks through enough sanitary products (sanitary napkins or tampons) to require changing every hour; while prolonged bleeding is when a woman experiences a menstrual period that lasts longer than seven days. In some cases, bleeding may be so severe and relentless that daily activities become interrupted and anemia develops.
Menorrhagia and abnormal uterine bleeding may be due to a hormone imbalance or disorder (particularly estrogen and progesterone), especially in women approaching menopause or after menopause. Other causes of abnormal bleeding include the presence of abnormal tissues such as fibroid tumors (benign tumors that develop in the uterus, also called myomas), polyps, or cancer of the endometrium or uterus. Two approaches to curing the symptoms of menorrhagia are hysterectomy, removal of the uterus, or, endometrial ablation.
Endometrial ablation is a procedure to permanently remove a thin tissue layer of the lining of the uterus to stop or reduce excessive or abnormal bleeding in women for whom childbearing is complete. Because the endometrial lining is destroyed, it can no longer function normally, and bleeding is stopped or controlled. In most cases, a woman cannot carry a fetus after endometrial ablation because the lining that nourishes a fetus has been removed. However, after ablation, a woman still has her reproductive organs and thus may still carry the risk of pregnancy because the sperm is still free to fertilize the eggs by traveling into the fallopian tubes.
Techniques used to perform endometrial ablation all involve the ultimate use of temperature to denature cell protein and thus destroy the endometrial tissue. These techniques generally include: hydrothermal (heated fluid pumped into the uterus), laser, balloon therapy (heating fluid in a balloon in contact with endometrial tissue), cryoablation (freezing), electrical or electrocautery, and radiofrequency or electrode (combination of vacuum and electrical current).
There are many options of permanent birth control available to women, including tubal ligation and vasectomy. However, the aforementioned procedures, though effective, are also invasive surgical procedures that require general anesthesia and surgical incision into the abdomen for laparoscopic access.
An alternate approach to permanent contraception is by placing a contraceptive device into the fallopian tubes. Placement of the intrafallopian contraceptive device does not require general anesthesia or surgical incision. Placement of the intrafallopian device is a less invasive procedure which carries a lower rate of risk or complication. This intrafallopian contraceptive device performs a contraception function by inducing tissue growth in the fallopian tubes thus blocking the spec leis from traveling into the fallopian tubes to fertilize the eggs.
The endometrial ablation procedure and the intrafallopian contraception procedure can be performed on the same woman. Women who elect to undergo a procedure for endometrial ablation generally seek sterilization because they do not want to risk the chance of pregnancy when the uterus cannot provide the fetus with sufficient nutrients. Similarly, although after receiving the intrafallopian contraceptive device a woman becomes sterile and cannot bear children, that does not preclude a woman from suffering from menorrhagia.
The available intrafallopian contraceptive devices are typically made of metal. That is, the intrafallopian contraceptive devices are made from conductive materials. In addition, when the intrafallopian contraceptive device is placed in the fallopian tube, at least a portion of the intrafallopian device may extend from the fallopian tube into the uterus (or substantially near the uterus).
As discussed above, a number of endometrial ablation devices require the use of electrical current and radiofrequency to generate heat to ablate the tissue. These ablation devices generally use an electrode or an antenna to conduct electricity or radiofrequency energy for ablation. Consequently, the placement of an electrode or an antenna in contact with endometrial tissue inside the uterus of a patient having an implanted intrafallopian contraceptive device runs the risk of short circuiting the electrode and/or heating other peripheral tissue if contact is made with the contraceptive device.